


poster child

by grandmas_ghost (nap_princess)



Category: Fairy Tail
Genre: Friendship, Gen, I wrote this fic for me but y'all can read it if you want, Juvia my Queen, Lisanna my Queen, Modern AU, Plot, mystery au, nali brotp
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-06-02
Updated: 2018-06-02
Packaged: 2019-05-17 06:44:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 8,413
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14827346
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nap_princess/pseuds/grandmas_ghost
Summary: "Just tell me why I'm here,""It's about Erza."/Trash collection was on Tuesdays / Signalling the alien mothership / He can't afford to lose any more friends– Modern mystery AU, Natsu, Lucy, Gray, Juvia and Jellal-centric (also Erza-centric but also not really?)





	1. prologue

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [WINDY DAY](https://archiveofourown.org/external_works/386781) by OH MY GIRL. 



** poster child **

* * *

**prologue**

* * *

 

* * *

"Just tell me why I'm here,"

.

.

.

 

"It's about Erza."

* * *

It's dark when she cycles home. Night time air cools her down as she peddles and the breeze makes a mess out of her blonde hair and sends her skirt fluttering (good thing she always wears leggings underneath!) She knows her eyes should be cast ahead of her, for safety reasons and all. But Lucy Heartfilia can't help but let her eyes gaze skyward, looking at the twinkling starry sky.

It's beautiful. Lucy doesn't think she'll ever get tired of the planets and constellations and vastness of the universe.

She passes a house that's decorated with Christmas lights; lights so bright that it reminds Lucy of something trying to signal an alien mothership.

 _Gosh_ , Lucy thinks embarrassingly as she cycles further. _I need to stop being an astrology dork and unfollow NASA on Twitter. People think I'm weird enough!_

.

.

.

The bike ride should have been a pleasant one. It _really_ should have. But then Lucy ran into **her**.

* * *

Gray Fullbuster was on loudspeaker as Juvia Lockser drove to his house. Her rickety truck zooms past an empty road, tall trees and a kinda creepy forest, as Gray talks about his day to her and Juvia replies back. Usually, Gray would be the one to pick up her on his motorbike. It's date night, after all. But Gray's motorbike decided to break down and be a slight inconvenient. A little rude, but what can you do?

"So where do you want to go tonight?" Gray asks through the other line.

"Juvia thought we were seeing _The Shape of Water_?" Juvia answers, hands clenched around the steering-wheel, she was still a little nervous about driving.

"We are but I thought I'd let you pick where we should eat after the movie." Gray says. "I picked the last time."

"Hmm," Juvia hums, thinking of cheap places they could eat at.

"We can try that new restaurant down at Saint Hawkins Road." Gray offers.

Juvia's mouth curves into a smile. She teases, "With what money?"

"Hey, I have money!"

"Gray-sama, we make our date nights on Tuesdays because it's two for Tuesdays at the cinema!" Juvia continues to tease. She laughs but doesn't let her concentration stray from the road.

Gray points out. "It's a good deal, Ju."

"Yeah, sure, Juvia thinks – Holy shit!"

Something runs in her view on the road. Literally **runs** into her view, full speed, as if dashing away from something. Juvia's headlights make out a blur of movement and she hits the breaks before she could figure out what was happening. Juvia swerves the car to the other side, off the road and onto muddy leaves.

Gray acts quickly to the feeling of a dreaded catastrophe happening on the other side of the phone. He just knew something was wrong. Maybe it was the sound of her phone flying into the glass windshield. Or maybe it was the sound of Juvia's tires screeching. Or maybe it was the fact that Juvia cursed and Juvia Lockser **never** curses.

"Juvia?! Juvia, are you there?! What happened?!" Gray's voice panics through the speaker.

Juvia shakes, ears ringing. If that didn't kill her then a heart attack would.

"Are you okay?! Hey – Answer me! Oh God," Gray curses.

Juvia hears the sound of Gray scrambling in the background as the sound of her heartbeat thundered in her ears. She hears keys jingling and doors being opened. Juvia wouldn't be surprised if Gray decided to travel by foot to see if she was okay. Run to her or something.

Juvia's still shaken up as she gasps, wide eyes looking out her window.

"Juvia? Answer me please!" Gray calls again.

With her hand still trembling, Juvia reaches for her phone. Teary blue eyes looks at the damage. Her phone screen's broken. _Shit._ Juvia's already poor enough.

"G – Gray-sama?" Juvia asks, she wants to cry. She unbuckles herself as she shakily gets out of the car. She wants to look. She wants to find the thing she almost ran over. Where is **it**? Where is **she**? _Oh_ , where is she? It happened so fast!

"I thought you were dead! Why didn't you answer me earlier?" Gray asks, his voice mixed with concern and anger and fear. "Did you get into an accident?"

"Juvia's not dead. She's _not_." Juvia chokes. Though she can't help but think how she almost died. "Yes, Juvia got into an accident." Then her lower lips quivers and she starts openly crying. "Juvia's getting out of her truck," She says though she's been out of the vehicle for the past ten seconds, observing her dark surroundings.

Gray responses fast, "No, don't get out of the truck! Stay still until I come and get you."

A little too late for that, she's already standing out of her truck. Juvia stares ahead of the road, letting her headlights beam ahead. She can hardly make out a thing. After a moment, Juvia shakily gets back into her truck, let her weight easing into the vehicle comfort her. It just means she's not transparent or anything ghostly. She lets out another sniff. "Okay,"

"I'm coming, don't cry. Don't get off the phone, you hear me? I'll go over to my neighbour's and ask them to call an ambulance for you. I'll borrow their bike too!" He tells her.

Juvia only whimpers in reply. She sniffs, mascara-stained tears dripping down her face.

Gray asks, just to keep her busy and occupied. "What happened?

"Juvia ..." She swallows, throat suddenly dry. "Juvia saw something,"

* * *

Natsu Dragneel stands there with his arms crossed as he glares at Gray Fullbuster from the other side of the hall. Gray's got his arm wrapped around Juvia Lockser, who he currently values ten times more after the car accident. He's got his lips pressed to the side of Juvia's temple all lovingly. Juvia's blushing, red as a tomato.

_Red ..._

Natsu's mind wanders for a moment before he snaps out of it. It was a split second thing.

 _Whatever._ Natsu thinks then continues glaring at Gray.

It's no secret that Natsu can't stand Gray. Can't stand him one bit. They used to be best friends back when they were younger until something happened. Gray just drifted away from the friendship. Grew cold, got new friends, got a girlfriend. Then the rest of Natsu's friendship with Gray became history. And now they were just strangers that used to know everything about each other.

"Being salty again?" A voice asks, familiar and a sweet.

Natsu turns his head and looks at Lisanna Strauss, someone who he's known since diapers. There are a few rumours going around that Natsu and Lisanna are together but Natsu has never thought of Lisanna that way. Especially since Natsu knows someone's already pinning after Lisanna. They're just friends, why can't people just mind their own business?

"No," Natsu grounds in reply.

"I mean …" Lisanna replies, sounding skeptical. "For the entirety of our friendship, I've only heard you say negative things about Gray after you and him stopped being friends. And it's been about five years or something since you guys last hung out. The glaring doesn't help either," Lisanna points out.

Natsu holds back a scoff. "I just think he's a jerk."

"Really? I couldn't tell." Lisanna says sarcastically. She bumps her shoulder into his. "And lay off, Gray is _not_ a jerk. He rushed over to Juvia's side after she got into that nasty car accident. You care too much."

"I don't care about Gray." Natsu answers.

Then Lisanna adds, "Then are you more concern about Juvia?"

"Not really. I don't even talk to her all that much. But if she were to ask me anything, I'd tell her to dump Gray's ass," Natsu says.

"I was right, you **are** still salty." Lisanna states. "You know, you didn't use to be like this when we were younger. You used to be so friendly and happy and energetic. Now you're all … **this**."

Natsu makes a face at Lisanna's comment. "You just gesture to **ALL** of me!"

"Well, _duh_!" Lisanna replies, wanting to slap her forehead. "See, this is why you only have three friends."

"Three's plenty."

Lisanna pulls a face and puts her hands on her hips. "No. No, it's not. Not for someone _like you_ who used to have dozens of friends. Now you just stand around and judge people."

"I don't judge people."

"You're judging Gray right now and you were low-key judging Juvia for dating Gray. I mean, look at you." Lisanna answer. She starts ticking her fingers at how asocial Natsu's being. "You haven't joined any clubs since middle school, you don't go to parties, you _barely_ text me back."

"Technology hates me." He excuses himself.

" _Natsu,_ " She warns him, "Can't you go out there and make new friends? Would it kill you to be friendly?"

Natsu doesn't answer.

"You have so much free time, do something with it." Lisanna says.

Natsu looks at Lisanna. Deep down, _deep down_ , he knew Lisanna was right. But ...

Just not right enough.

A groan escapes his lips. "You know what, I don't have time for this. I have to go to class."

" _Natsu!_ "

"Bye, see you at lunch!"

...

As Natsu walks away, he can't help but questions himself a little further. Was it a little sad that Natsu's only befriend a group of siblings? He had a win-one-win-two bundle pack but it was also a lose-one-lose-two kinda thing. And Natsu doesn't think (no, he _knows_ ) he can't afford to lose all three Strauss siblings. He can't afford to lose any more friends.

* * *

"There's other life out there, Levy-chan!" A voice yells among the crowd full of students in the cafeteria. Levy smiles in response, and, Jet and Droy exchange glances at each other in the background.

In any case, no one would care because there would be weirder things to listen in on. But for some reason, Natsu ends up gravitating towards the conversation several tables away. He's already sitting with his own friends but he can't help but stare at the blonde who's too enthusiastic about the galaxy for her own good.

"Something catch your eye?" Mirajane teases, batting her eyelashes. Her siblings are off getting snacks from the snack machine. "I see you staring at Lucy Heartfilia,"

Natsu turns away from Lucy and her friends. The blonde has the same amount of friends as him. It used to be more but …

He shrugs, hands in the warmth of his hoodie pockets. "I just think she's weird,"

"Oh, come on, now." Mirajane coos. "She's a lovely girl. Just give her a chance."

Natsu rolls his eyes at this. Because, of course, sweet Mirajane would say such a thing. He says, "Yeah, sure, I'll give her a chance. Lucy and I are in a class together and Mrs Johnson told us we're about to start doing projects for English Lit so I'll partner up with her or something."

"Oh, that's great!" Mirajane claps her hands in joy. Her perfect French manicures catch his eyes. Was there ever a moment where Mirajane Strauss wasn't perfect?

"Uh, I was _obviously_ joking."

Mirajane's smile lowers into a frown. She retorts back, probably the meanest thing she'll ever say to anyone, "You're a joke."

"Wow," Natsu says, his voice laced with sarcasm. "Nice comeback."

"If you continue talking about Lucy like that, then you can't sit with us." Mirajane tells him, her tone serious.

This time, Natsu frowns. He knows that Mirajane knows he can't afford to lose all three of his friends. Natsu tells Mirajane, "Okay, I take it back. Lucy's ... an okay person?"

Mirajane makes a grumbling sound.

"I'm sorry," He says just to get her all smiling again.

"You should be." Mirajane replies.

Natsu only grunts in return.

"The snack machine gave us **two** free gummy bears!" Lisanna says excitedly, returning from their little errand, and Elfman pumps his fist in the background.

And just like that, the conversation is forgotten once Lisanna and Elfman take their usual seats at the lunch table. However, Natsu does end up staring back at Lucy as he shares a bag of gummies with Lisanna.

Maybe 'staring at Lucy' is too much of a strong word. It was more like staring at Lucy's aesthetic-y see-through jacket. Gosh, she was just so weird to him! She probably thinks it looks cool and all but to Natsu, it just made her look like a sandwich in a see-through zip-lock bag. But he won't tell her this. _Ever._ Because he knows that would earn him a good slap and some spilled tears from Lucy which would ripple and turn to him getting kicked in the ass by Erza Scarlet.

 _Erza .._. Natsu suddenly thinks, the image of the redhead comes rushing over him, feeling like a strong punch to the face. _Well … she would definitely beat me up if ... that is ... if –_

Natsu pauses, trying to shake the redhead out of his thoughts though it doesn't work.

_If Erza Scarlet wasn't …_

Natsu closes his eyes. He doesn't dare finish that thought.

* * *

Erza Scarlet – a model straight-A student at Magnolia High, arguably the prettiest girl in the school and, at this very moment, had her picture stare back at Jellal Fernandez. Not that he chose to just randomly look her up and eyeball Erza like some creep. No, no, Jellal knew Erza. Knew her _well_. Well enough to read Erza to a certain degree. They had been academic rivals for years. Or, at least, they were academic rivals until **it** happened.

Currently, Erza had her pictures plastered on a milk cartoon and (again) arguably, everywhere, forever frozen to stare at anyone in the small town who dared to look at her direction.

Why? – Oh, you see, because she was missing without a trace!

* * *

"Hi," Someone greets.

Natsu looks up from the textbook he was dazing off at. Confusion was written all over his face as he stared at Lucy Heartfilia nervously standing before him.

"Um," He hums, straightening his posture. "Hey?"

"Mirajane-senpai told me you wanted to be my partner for English Lit?" Lucy voices, her brown eyes flashed the same confusion Natsu had written on his face.

Natsu pauses. His fingers drum on his desk for a moment to think. If Natsu could afford to lose friends, he would have done something. Because he doesn't think he's ready to be pulled into Mirajane's crazy schemes but, my God, is zero friends a sad number.

"Erm … yeah," Natsu lies. "I'm … struggling to read? And you're … super smart and nice and stuff?" Natsu says though everything sounds like a question or a terribly obvious lie. "So …" He trails off.

Lucy's confused expression bounces into a pleasant one. She smiles at him, warm and bright. She tells him, "Oh, yeah, I'll help you then."

"Uh, thanks," Natsu replies, it comes out too slow. He saw something in her. It's felt like years since the last time someone was _this_ nice to him. Last Summer to be the exact but –

"You're welcome." Lucy answers then takes a seat next to him and scoots her chair closer.

Natsu can't believe how willing Lucy is at this random request.

"What don't you understand?" Lucy asks, turning his textbook to the correct page for today's topic.

Natsu contemplates his life briefly then tells her, " _Everything._ "

"Oh … wow." Lucy replies. It's more to herself. "Then, I guess we should get started?"

"I guess," He answers back. It's not like he has anything better to do anyway. Like Lisanna said, he had too much free time on his hands.

* * *

A week passes and they strangely click as friends after Natsu pushes past the fact that Lucy likes things like unsolved mysteries and the unknown a little too much.

* * *

If Jellal Fernandez could describe Erza Scarlet in the most neutral way possible, he would say the redhead reminds him of the heroine _Misaki Ayuzawa_. Y'know, the one from that popular shoujo manga? _Kaichou wa Maid-sama!_

Not that Jellal was a fan or anything – pssh! His cousin Wendy just left the first volume of the manga at his house once when she visited him and Jellal just so happens to be coincidentally free and looking for something to occupy his time then ended up reading the entire series later.

Anyways, if one could compare Erza to _Misaki_ , they'd know Erza was too involved with school and academically willed to drop everything and vanish. She wasn't the type of person to just disappear off of the face of the universe like that. She wouldn't dare give anyone such a scare. Erza was the kind to leave obvious traces and marks. She was the type that already had a signature style. Erza was outspoken, she never hid around corners and was quite frankly, _very_ blunt. So it really brought everything into question when she went missing.

Jellal knew something happened. He knows it. It was a feeling deep in his gut. He just needs a few more clues to link everything together. He just needs a few more clues or someone to say something or the missing link.

* * *

Trash collection was on Tuesdays. That's how Lucy remembers the day, because she was asked to take out the trash after she had told her mother she'd be gone all day after school was over. Tuesday. A flipping Tuesday, the day Lucy saw Erza Scarlet darting out of the woods that dark, dark night.

* * *

Another week passes before anything happens.

* * *

"She was abducted by aliens!"

Is the first thing Natsu hears when he walks into the room. He figured he'd end up sitting down and talking about something school related but, instead, here he is, listening to a totally convinced Lucy speak about alien abductions.

"Are you crazy?" Jellal asks. His desk was position in a manner that made Jellal look like he was in charge.

Natsu doesn't even hesitate as soon as those words left Jellal's mouth. The pink haired boy immediately walks over to Jellal and uncrosses his arms. Natsu was having none of this alien bullshit but he wasn't going to just stand there and let Lucy Heartfilia be called 'crazy'. She was super super _super_ weird but she **wasn't** out of her mind.

Natsu snaps at Jellal, he didn't care that Jellal was his senior. Lucy was probably the highlight of his week. Natsu warns, "Jellal, watch your mouth."

Jellal immediately shrinks. "Sorry,"

"No, I know it sounds crazy, okay? But what other logical reason is there?" Lucy tries to compromise, waving her arms around.

Jellal breaths in deeply then lets out a loud sigh, "Not aliens."

Natsu pinches the bridge of his nose. Unlike the two in the room, he's not so sure that he wants to take a seat now. He questions the blue haired boy, "Why did you call this meeting, Jellal?" They haven't exactly talked since middle school.

"We have to wait for the others before I tell you." Jellal answers then gestures to a seat beside Lucy.

The pink haired boy looks at the empty chair before letting Lucy persuade him with a smile. "Fine," Natsu says. He takes off his backpack before hugging it awkwardly. "Exactly how many people are coming to this meeting?"

Jellal replies, "Just two. They should be here any minute now –"

The classroom door opens and in walks two people.

Natsu internally groans, his face scrunched up as if he was in pain. Of course. _Of course_ , it had to be Gray and Juvia.

Everyone in the room turns to face the couple. Juvia immediately freezes. It was obvious she was hesitating as she takes a step in, ankle boots ready to back-peddle. Her big blue eyes darts back and forth. Her body language told the others that she didn't want to be here, like she knew _something_ but didn't want to say it. The only thing that kept Juvia in that very room was Gray's hand holding hers.

"Come on, babe." Gray whispers to Juvia, soft-voiced.

Natsu almost vomits in his mouth a little. He has nothing against Juvia but to hear Gray all passionate was gross to him. He'll admit it right now, he had a one-sided beef with Gray. Anything that has to do with Gray is an automatic 'no'.

Gray isn't even ten steps into the room before he notices Natsu there. Disgust fills every fibre of his body.

Oh, _well_. Maybe it wasn't really a one-sided beef fest after all.

"Why is Flame Brain here?" Gray asks, eyeing Natsu.

Natsu perks up at this. Truth be told, he doesn't know why he's here either or why he agreed. Jellal just decided to drop by his locker and said he wanted to talk about stuff after school.

"We've been over this, Gray. The group needs him." Jellal answers, his hands in front of him, all sophisticated, fingers intertwined.

"I didn't think he'd come." Gray says lowly under his breath, rolling his eyes.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Natsu growls. He can't believe people are just talking about him like he wasn't in the room.

"I mean, of course you'd be the special snowflake we need. Of course, you have to be involved." Gray answers.

Juvia touches Gray's shoulder but he just shrugs it off before pulling her towards seats as far away from Natsu as possible.

Natsu squeezes the backpack in his arms, feeling his anger flare. "I don't even know what's happening so don't start blaming me."

"I'm not blaming you. I'm just pointing out how you don't need to be here." Gray answers.

Natsu curses at Gray, "What the fuck? So I can't just be minding my own business at a certain place at a certain time?"

"If you have no business in it then yes." Gray says. "You don't care about Juvia or Lucy or Jellal, you don't need to be here."

Green eyes glare warningly at Gray and Gray snorts in reply, a little arrogant.

 _Jesus,_ Natsu thinks.

But it wasn't over yet. Gray shifts from his seat. He gives Natsu a sideways glance and asks. "You never notice these things, do you?"

Natsu didn't want to answer. He really didn't. But Gray was getting to him. Natsu asks back, "Notice what?"

"Exactly!" Gray answers, ready to tear his hair out.

Natsu almost flips a table. "Are you _serious_ right now?"

Juvia shares a concerned look with Lucy who in return stares back before gesturing to Jellal to do something. Jellal just shakes his head and Lucy wanted to smack her face on the desk for that. The meeting hasn't even started and the group was already falling apart!

"This is exactly why I stopped being friends with you, Natsu! You never notice _anything_! Back when we were friends, it was like I didn't exist without you. It was like I wasn't my own individual, some unwilling twin to the hip or a bundle pack sold. You always had to be up in my face, in my business." Gray starts.

Natsu gaps at this. What kinda whack crack explanation is that? "It's not like I wanted to be roped into anything that involves you in it!"

"But you are, aren't you?" Gray states.

Both boys stand up from their seats, ready to tear each other to pieces. Juvia scrambles to tug Gray back down and Lucy panics, wide brown eyes staring at Natsu.

Natsu challenges, "You wanna fight me?! I'll fight you! I. will. fight. you! Let's fight _right now_!"

"Fight you?! Are you legit?! You've never had to fight for anything in your entire life, you know that?!" Gray claims, moving away from Juvia and moving towards Natsu.

"I've fought plenty!"

"Everything just comes easy to you! You win at everything! Just fuck off,"

"Win at everything?! That's not true!" Natsu defends himself, he finds himself moving forward too.

" **Bullshit!** You get everything handed to you on a silver platter!" Gray's yelling louder now.

Natsu slams his hands on the table, pushing things out of his way, ready to launch himself at Gray. "THAT'S NOT TRUE!"

"Stop it!" Lucy intervenes, putting herself between the two and pushing the boys apart.

Natsu lets himself be pushed. His entire body is still shaky, he feels his teeth clench so hard that it hurts but he's not calming down. He just doesn't want to hurt Lucy. Lucy who doesn't need to get involved.

Pale hands end up guiding Gray back to his seat. Juvia gives Gray a look that tells him to calm down or so help him. Gray strangely complies. He stares hard at his old sneakers, refusing to meet Natsu's eye.

"Just tell me why I'm here," Natsu says again, almost looking for something to distract him.

Gray's shoulders immediately drop, Juvia bites her lower lip and Lucy looks around the room full of five people, all connected through one person.

Jellal answers just like he has for the past questions thrown out there. "It's about Erza."

.

.

.

"Juvia and Lucy-san saw **her**. We saw Erza-san. Not once but twice. _Twice_ , Natsu-san. Jellal just happened to hear and, now, we need your help!" Juvia pleads, grabbing Natsu's tan hands, holding him with her pale hands so he wouldn't go away.

Natsu could do nothing but look at Juvia. He doesn't know what to say or what to make out of this because … because … Erza's still missing. There's no way that she's suddenly back. He should know because Erza's face is still on paper stapled all over the place. Erza, the only person to ever gone missing in this town. The only face to be plastered all over posters. A sad poster child.

Natsu wants to ask so badly. What kind of nonsense is this? What can a bunch of teens do? They're not a mystery solving team. They're not even friends. They barely like each other. They're not some random _Scooby-Doo_ gang come to life. This is  serious shit. A person is **missing**!

But also …

But also _not_ missing.

If Erza wasn't missing and still **here** then why is she just hanging around in the woods? Why not come back? Or why not run off somewhere else if she didn't want to stick around in the first place? Why? _Why?_

Natsu takes a shaky breath in. He breaks his gaze from Juvia and looks at the other people. He says, "Look, I get why everyone's here. Jellal's the brains, Lucy and Juvia's seen Erza and Gray's emotional support or something. But again – why am I here? I don't see me having anything to do with this. I'm nobody. I'm just somebody who misses Erza as much as everyone else."

A heaviness blankets the room. Everyone looks at the pink haired boy. Juvia continues to hold Natsu's hand like some support line, Lucy places her own hand on his shoulder.

Jellal speaks up, "You're the missing link, Natsu."

There is no time to pause. Natsu finds himself asking, "I'm the what now?"


	2. chapter one

** poster child **

* * *

**chapter one**

* * *

"It was Colonel Mustard in the conservatory with the candlestick!"

.  
.  
.

Lucy Heartfilia's phone chimes, the nostalgic _Kim Possible_ communicator ringtone beeps in the background as she answers the call. "What's the sitch?"

"Will you stop answering your phone like that?" Natsu says to Lucy, giving the blonde a look.

Lucy only frowns in response before speaking into the other line. "Hi, Levy-chan, what's up?"

Natsu rolls his eyes and lets Lucy trail after him as he walks down the sidewalk. School's out and Lucy's been cornering Natsu every minute of every hour to get him to agree to this wild goose chase to find Erza Scarlet. It's becoming a major headache because Lucy's just as stubborn as he is on this matter.

"Hey, slow down!" Lucy says as she tries to catch up to him. It's not her fault that he walks fast and has long ass limbs.

Natsu only lets out a low grumble and stuffs his hands deeper into his hoodie pockets. Truth be told, he doesn't want to be here – out and about – but there's no way he's letting Lucy follow him home, he doesn't want her to know where he lives. The last thing he needs is her coming to his house at three AM, muttering about alien conspiracy theories and starting an unofficial search party club.

"So, anyways," Lucy speaks into the phone again. Natsu blocks out the conversation until Lucy stuffs her phone into her see-through jacket pocket.

When her call ends, Natsu can't help but ask, "Why are you like this?"

Lucy only tosses her long blonde hair over her shoulder. "What? Weird? It can't be helped, this is just who I am. I mean, I did want to be the President of Space when I was five so …"

He sighs for a second time in the span of their short conversation. Natsu asks, making a long face, "Why are you hovering around me?"

"I'm not hovering, I'm just gently persuading you to help Jellal, Juvia, Gray and me." Lucy answers, sniffing.

Natsu had the urge to rub his temple. "I don't have time for this nonsense."

"You have to!"

"No, I _don't_."

"You _have_ to!" She repeats, insistent. "If you don't help us then – then I'll – " Lucy sputters before trying her best to low-key threaten him. "If you don't help us then I'll stop helping you with English Lit."

"Fine," Natsu answers and lifts a shoulder to show her it wasn't a big deal.

Lucy frowns. "What? No! That was supposed to persuade you to help us!"

His thin patience snaps.

"Lucy!" Natsu puts his foot down, turning to face her. "Stop it. Just **stop**. I'm not going through this. Just leave me alone."

"But, Natsu –"

" **Please** ,"

Lucy holds his gaze, brown against green. She lets her expression fall then she nods. "Okay," She says then turns around and leaves like nothing had happened, likely going home.

Lucy leaves, but Natsu knows she'll be back and more persistent tomorrow.

* * *

Lucy follows Natsu around, determine with her head held high, see-through-sandwich-bag jacket zipped up, alien-themed socks keeping her warm. Natsu takes a peak at the girl willingly trailing after him. They're not even hanging out like normal teenagers. They're blocks away from a convenient store and too far away from a mall that provides cool air conditioning, food cafeterias and entertainment like movie centres.

Natsu whips around, hands in his hoodie pockets. "Go home, Luce."

"No," Lucy answers, stamping a pink converse shoe on the gravel just to make a point.

"You're not gonna get anything out of me." Natsu tells her. "You can't convince me to go on a wild goose chase for a girl who's been missing for months."

A dark shadow casts over Lucy's face, she looks sadden. "The school year just started, it still feels like Summer. We **can** afford to do _something_ while we still have the time, homework isn't that heavy, no assignments are due yet."

Natsu doesn't say anything in reply. Instead, he just stares at her, his own face twisted with sadness. The burning fire that used to ignite Natsu's adventurous self had died long ago. Adventure brings nothing but trouble.

He repeats himself, "Go home, Lucy."

"No." Lucy replies.

"Listen to me, I don't wanna get dragged into this. We're just a bunch of kids, we can't do _anything_."

But Lucy doesn't take this. Her teeth grits and she shouts at him, "We have Juvia and Gray and Jellal-senpai! We're **not** alone in this! _What_ are you afraid of?!"

"Oh, _I don't know_." Natsu says, a scoff, sarcasm laced in his voice. "Losing my life? Losing your life along with the others? It's dangerous out there! Just what do you think this is?!" He asks, shouting too. "Do you think this is a game?! You think it's fun?! Do you think losing your life is fun?!"

"Erza's NOT dead. Juvia and I saw her. You know that!" Lucy claims.

"You and Juvia could have hallucinated all of that! You're just desperate!" Natsu says. "If Erza wanted to be found then she would have flagged you and Juvia down, asked for help, you both had some sort of transportation that could have gotten her out of those woods. Erza could have done something instead of just running away!"

"Are you blaming her?!" Lucy challenges. "You don't get to talk about Erza that way! You didn't see the state she was in like **I did**. Erza was a mess, she had dirt on her face, twigs in her hair, her clothes were torn and needed patching. She looked **scared** , Natsu! She looked like she needed our help!"

"You're being unrealistic!" Natsu argues.

"Like you aren't?!" Lucy argues back.

"You're just charging head first into the spooky woods we know nothing about! Do you think this is some anime or whatever, that we could just conjure up some friendship bullshit then beat up the bad guys and solve Erza's disappearance just like that?!"

Lucy shakes with anger, "You haven't even tried _anything_! We can't give up just yet! We haven't even started!"

"My God, Lucy, listen to yourself! If people like the police can't solve this case, then what chance do we have solving it?! Can't you just –" Natsu stops himself before he can say anything else. He sees the hurt expression flash across her face. He feels guilty, but not guilty enough to agree to this plan. He's still mad. He ends the conversation with a firm, "I'm going home. Don't follow me."

* * *

"I know what I said," Lucy starts off as she approaches Natsu yet again.

Yesterday's fight is nothing. A little more heated, sure, but Lucy comes back to him the very next day. Because she's been by his side since the day he turned down Jellal's offer. And the day after that and the day after _that_ and the day after **that**. It's been a solid two weeks.

"Erza's not dead, I know it." Lucy says, trying to be positive.

But Natsu doesn't think so. She's gotta be dead. How else could Erza have survived in the woods for so long? All alone without proper food or shelter. Whatever Lucy and Juvia saw that day, it must have been Erza's ghost or spirit or something supernatural. He thinks, even in death, Erza doesn't want to see him; the person who left her at the woods to –

"But maybe we could try to solve it like it's a mystery worth it, yeah? Like _Clue_." Lucy suggests, holding her hands nervously together. Lucy's trying her hardest, Natsu knows she is, but she's also running out of options. "Like – Like, you know, it was Colonel Mustard in the conservatory with the candlestick!"

Natsu stays silent, his jaw locked. Then he finally replies, "This isn't a dumb board game. Heck, this isn't a game in general. Just give up, Luce."

But she doesn't. Instead, Lucy tells him, "No. Never."

Natsu frowns in return. He can't say he blames Lucy but she doesn't know what really happened in those woods the Summer Erza Scarlet went missing.

.  
.  
.

Last Summer, the Summer he had turned sixteen, Natsu Dragneel had felt like nothing was going right for him. Honestly, he was feeling pretty shitty. He had failed his driving test, _again_. And now he was just spending the afternoon sitting outside the driving school, head in his hands, on the dirty driveway as he tried not to get too frustrated with himself but, _damn_ , was it hard not to beat himself up for it.

He wished he could go over to the Strauss siblings' house and let them distract him from his misery. But the problem that came with having a bunch of siblings as his only friends meant having to spend the entirety of Summer alone when a planned Strauss family trip was called for.

"Hey," A voice calls.

Natsu looks up from the ground. He raises a brow when he notices who it is. "Erza-san?"

Erza only gives him a grin in return. "There's no need for honorifics. We've known each other since middle school."

"You've been student council president since I was in Freshman year, I should be using honorifics." Natsu answers.

She shrugs then takes a seat next to him. "So why are you out here looking like the world's about to end? What's got you in the dumps?"

Natsu explains, sounding defeated, "I failed my driving test for the seventh time in a row."

"Wow," Erza answers, letting out a whistle, no mock in her tone.

"Yup." He replies, popping the 'P'.

"Want me to teach you?" Erza asks, something out of the blue. Natsu definitely didn't expect the conversation to head in such a direction.

Natsu asks, "Don't you have better things to do this Summer break besides teach someone like me how to drive?"

Erza only gives him a look then says, "I don't see anything wrong with helping you."

"Why?"

"Because you look like a person who needs a friend."

"Wow, I'm that lonely looking, huh?" He laughs, a little bitter.

"Like I said," Erza voices, a warning in her tone that told him, if he doubted himself on more time, she **will** smack some sense into him. "I don't mind helping you out. I think it would be nice spending time with you."

And that was the start of their friendship. They hung out every day after that. They drove and laughed and fiddled with the radio. And every time Natsu nailed a parallel park, Erza treated him to ice-cream to beat the heat. Erza was patient and fierce and insistent in not giving up.

If anyone asked, Natsu wouldn't have traded that Summer for the world.

That is, until that night at the woods.

…

They're travelling down a familiar road. A road Natsu once cycled back and forth every day on his way to his best friend's house, Gray's house. Natsu had finally aced his driving test. And now both he and Erza are going on a sorta joy ride, being adventurous, cruising down a road that was deserted enough to accommodate Natsu's driving skills. The night was filled with nothing but endless tall trees and nocturnal animals.

It was a little after dinner time; the moon was high in the sky, clouds were drifting by, _Cannibal Queen_ by _Minature Tigers_ was playing on the radio and leftover Chinese take-out was littered in the back seat. /

Natsu was laughing on the top of his lungs, trying not to lose it, hands behind the wheel. It was all fun and games – then Erza suddenly lets her head snap to the left, a quick motion. Something catches her eye, she even does a double take.

Then it happened. Erza let out a scream, loud and distressed, making Natsu slam his foot on the break.

"Holy shit, Erza, you almost gave me a heart attack! What was that for?!" Natsu asks, clutching onto his chest. The car engine hums as the vehicle stayed in one spot.

But Erza doesn't answer Natsu's question. She doesn't even look at him, her brown eyes stared off to her side of the window.

"Erza?" Natsu asks, it almost seemed like she was in a trance.

"Stay here." Erza says, then unbuckles her seatbelt and exits the shotgun seat before Natsu can say anything. She rushes into the woods, letting leaves and twigs crush under her weight.

Natsu stares at the outline of Erza's back as she goes deeper into the woods; heart beating wildly in his chest, headlights beaming into the unknown. Natsu calls out, scared shitless, "Erza, get back in the car. We shouldn't be fucking around like this."

But Erza doesn't move. And Natsu doesn't either. He doesn't have the guts to go out there and pull her back into the car.

"You have to leave." Erza says, voice in a whisper, her back still facing him. She's just fifteen feet away from him but it felt like she was miles away.

"What?" Natsu sputters, his own eyes filled with panic. "No, I can't just leave you here alone. Just get in the car."

"There's no time." Erza answers.

"What are you talking about?" Natsu asks, his heart was racing. He just wanted to leave. He didn't want to stay here anymore. Why was Erza acting like this?

There was a small stretch of silence as Erza looked off into the darkness before she spoke up, "Natsu, _go_."

And suddenly, a cold feeling spreads around his body. Natsu knew this feeling. He was losing her. He's losing another friend. Why on earth did he think he could have the luxury of having another friend? You'd think he would have learned his lesson after he lost Gray as a best friend, then the friends after that, and now he's going to lose Erza – literally, into the creepy woods.

Natsu speaks, voice weak, "Please don't do this."

Erza doesn't reply.

Natsu feels his grip tighten around the steering wheel. He pleads to her again, "Please, please, please don't do this."

"Go now, Natsu." Erza repeats. And by the tone in her voice, Natsu knows Erza means it. He's spent enough days around her to know she means business. She's staying, she's not going back.

He wanted to cry. And her last words to him was, "Don't tell anyone I was here. Don't tell anyone what happened. This Summer never happened."

.  
.  
.

Natsu hears footsteps approach him from behind. He thinks it's a certain blonde girl. Didn't he just ask her to leave him alone ten minutes ago? Honestly, Lucy should be spending her time at a bookstore with Levy or geeking out about gundam models with Jet and Droy, not prodding her way into his life.

He closes his eyes as he feels a heavy weight on his shoulders. He's so tired of this constant back and forth. He just wants to drop the subject.

"Go away, Luce." Natsu says. He's said it so many times now that this sentence sounded like a mantra.

A second passes. Then two then three. Nothing's said in return but Natsu still feels the presence behind him. Natsu turns, so close to snapping. Can't he have a moment to himself?

"Lucy –" He begins to say but then drops it when he realizes it's not Lucy he's speaking to. "… It's _you _."__

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> – 28 February 2018


	3. chapter two

** poster child **

* * *

**chapter two**

* * *

"… It's you,"

"Yeah," Gray Fullbuster replies, folding his arms on his chest. His face is stern. The sun's rays beats against his back. It's hot. Or, perhaps, it's about to get hot from the likely heated argument that he and his ex best friend will get into. Gray says, "It's me."

Natsu Dragneel feels both hot and cold being near Gray. His hands felt icy, the kinda icy one felt when scared. But his gut felt warm like it was fuelled with the energy to push him to do _something_. Natsu doesn't want to deal with this right now but he knows Gray won't leave him alone.

The pink haired boy asks, "What do you want?"

"We need to talk, Natsu."

"Why?" Natsu asks, almost mocking. "So we can have a heart to heart and be friends again?"

"Yes," Gray answers, not even pausing.

Natsu freezes. His heart slams against his chest like that night Erza screamed and almost gave him a heart attack. Natsu blinks, trying not to let Gray see his expression, then croaks, "No thanks."

But it's clear that's a lie. A damn lie. Because of course Natsu wants his best friend back. It's been on his mind for years. He wants things to be like they were back in the good old days. Back when things were so simple. When they laughed at anything and everything, talked for hours, rode their bikes and, played and explored at the mouth of the woods by Gray's house and –

 _Of course_ , he wants his ex best friend back. What fucker doesn't?

"Let's go sit somewhere while we talk." Gray says despite the fact that Natsu had just rejected his offer.

Natsu doesn't answer. Or rather, he doesn't want to answer. He waits. Waits to be persuaded.

Gray wipes his forehead with his wrist. "It's too hot out here. Let's go somewhere with AC. Wait no, I want ice-cream. Let's go to the parlour."

"What?"

"Ice-cream." Gray repeats then offers a soft look. "I'm buying. Come on,"

Ice-cream … Like how Erza had offered to pay so casually back then.

Natsu wished he could say he maintained his stubbornness. But two weeks of just doing that with Lucy had worn him out. There was so much he could handle. The strain of knowing he was the last person to see Erza before she disappeared, not breathing a word, having the others prod him day in and day out, it was all too much. Also –

Also …

There was just something so inviting about his ex best friend asking him to hang out together again. (Even if it was to talk about a girl lost in the woods. Because, let's be honest. This wasn't about them. Because if it was, it would have been fixed five years ago)

"So, how about this?" Gray asks, feet leading the two to their destination.

Natsu finds himself following, red sneakers trailing behind. Was he so deprived for friendship that he'd fall for such a bait? Ice-cream and a friend? Some gossip thrown to the side? A mystery about a missing girl.

Gray looks straight ahead as he talks, back facing Natsu. "While we eat, let's talk. I tell you my part of the story of why I drifted away from you. And, in exchange for that, you tell me a story in return."

"And what story is that?" Natsu asks back.

"The story of …" Gray swallows. "The story of how Erza disappeared. I know you were the last person with her. Jellal told us how a few people had seen you and Erza hang out during the Summer."

"Ah," Is all Natsu replies then says, "But you already spilled the details of why you stopped befriending me. Remember the other day with Jellal and Lucy and Juvia in the classroom?"

"That's not the full story," Gray says.

 _Of course_ , it's not.

Natsu finds himself taking in a deep breath in and saying, "I … I'll listen. But there's no promises."

A small grin spreads on Gray's face. "Good enough."

…

"Is your favourite flavour still cotton candy?" Gray found himself asking before they entered the shop.

"You remembered?" Natsu asks as Gray's hand pauses at the door.

"How could I forget?"

It's quiet for a moment. Then Natsu nods in reply. "Yours is … mint, right?"

(Erza's was mangostar)

"Hm," Gray hums.

Natsu says, distracting herself, "You always teased me about liking cotton candy."

"I just thought it was too sweet." Gray brushes it off and leads them in. It was a casual conversation being exchanged after five years (almost _too_ casual). It almost felt like it did back then.

 _Persuade me_. Natsu thinks to himself as they stepped under the chiming bell of the ice-cream parlour and stepped into the shop.

* * *

Three days pass after that meeting of minds over frozen desserts.

The five teenagers gear up to the woods in broad daylight on a Saturday. They equipped themselves for the inevitable. Backpack filled with food, bottled water, weapons; bats and scissors and box cutters, and, brightly coloured ribbons to mark their way like _Hansel and Gretel_ leaving breadcrumbs behind them. A different colour ribbon was assigned to each person; purple for Jellal, dark blue for Gray, lime green for Juvia, pink for Lucy and red for Natsu.

Everything seemed like it was planned well, but, in truth, everything was going pretty shitty.

"Are you guys alright?!" Jellal Fernandez calls as he pushes back foliage and peers below a small hill the four just tumbled down.

There's a mix of grunts and groans and curses but everyone seemed to be in one piece.

"Natsu, get your big ass off me!" Gray growls, sore from the fall.

"I'm _not_ on you." Natsu answers, rolling next to Juvia.

A pissed off voice speaks, "That's my ass!"

"Whoops, sorry, Lucy." Gray answers sheepishly.

"Don't forget to tie ribbons on the bushes we fell from, Jellal-san. We don't want to get lost." Juvia says, after accepting a hand from Natsu and dusting off leaves and twigs off her clothes.

They've been at it for hours now, probably going in circles in this dumb woods.

"We're not getting anywhere." Gray grumbles as Jellal skids down the hill, sending dust and dirt onto his hiking shoes.

"We're not giving up." Lucy says, pulling a beetle out of her ponytail.

"I never said we were." Gray answers. "I'm just saying we've made no progress."

Juvia sends her boyfriend a soft expression, knowing he's getting frustrated with himself. "We will, Gray-sama."

"It better be soon. It's getting late." Natsu answers, green eyes reading his wristwatch. The last thing they want is to stick in the woods after hours.

Jellal surveys the greenery around them. The sky was still blue, not yet turning pinkish-orange. Sweat clings to his shirt, sticking his fringe to his forehead, making him feel stuffy.

Jellal holds up a finger. "One more hour." He says. "We'll look for one more hour then regroup and plan."

Lucy nods and the others give out a faint "Alright,"

* * *

They sit in a circle, in the middle of the Fullbuster's living room. The store-bought strawberry cake Lucy had paid for during the spur of the moment occupies the coffee table as she, Natsu, Gray, Juvia and Jellal take forkfuls of icing into their mouths. Today's search party is a bust and they're feeding themselves cake to feel better about themselves. It's a pity party at its finest.

"Erza would have loved to eat this cake." Lucy says, sad, almost like she wished their redhead friend was here.

Juvia sniffs, taking a sip of a glass of milk to hide her disappointment. Gray rubs her hand under the table.

"Well," Jellal says, wanting to laugh. "At least we're eating it. Cake, food for champions."

Natsu doesn't know what to add to the conversation. But he says – he … He asks anyways despite it not being a question. "So same place, same time tomorrow?"

"Yeah." Everyone choruses back.

And so the search for Erza Scarlet continues. They were **going** to bring her home if it's the last thing they do.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Because Fairy Tail itself has pretty bogus explanations, I'm now going to write the weirdest, craziest explanation and no one can give me shit about it.
> 
> – 6 March 2018

**Author's Note:**

> This is what happens when my dad tells me too much about alien conspiracies. Also, I realized through the majority of the story, I accidentally wrote 'Gruvia' instead of 'Juvia'. I love this ship so much that I see them as one.
> 
> Idk why I'm making Natsu a jerk or why I'm making Lucy hella weird. I'm just so stressed that I'm throwing out random AUs. Didn't plan for the day to be Tuesday. I just subconsciously linked trash day and movie day to Tuesday because it's a real-life occurrence here. We do have to take out the trash on Tuesdays and it is two-for-Tuesdays at the cinema.
> 
> Apparently, I drafted this on 29 November 2017 but I never got back to it … Wow.
> 
> – 2 February 2018


End file.
